I lost my Kindle

I used to read A LOT!  I was the kid who would wake up at 6am in the morning just to scan through the morning newspaper.  Not what most fifth graders were doing, but it explains my behavior now.  One of the toughest aspects of our society right now is processing the amount of information that is being presented to us now.  From the research I found through a Google search the average American is exposed to over 3,000 advertisements daily.

Needless to say with my ADD it can be very tough to focus.  Then along came the Kindle.

This is a game changer for me.  I take it everywhere.  It’s in my car so that if people are late I just pull out this little piece of heaven.  I can download books right before my plan takes off.  Sadly, last week I lost my reading device.  I was flying up to Spokane to chaperon some high school students at a youth conference and left it on the plane.  Now I am dealing with a serious case of separation anxiety trying to decide whether it might be returned.  It’s not quite on the same level as a dog owner who is hoping that their dog is returned a year after it has been missing, but the odds are not in my favor.

If you haven’t checked out electronic books you owe it to yourself and I need to go purchase my next Kindle.

What are your first websites you visit everyday?

I dislike having the same conversation with people and try to come up with questions that cause a person to think about the answer instead of spitting out the same response they have been for years.  With the transition of getting a majority of our information from the internet I think the question above is very relevant.

I have to say that CNN comes up most often as the answer.  Here are my top three currently:

1. Real Clear Markets, Politics and Sports. These sites pool together stories from across the globe.  It makes it easy to get a broad range of opinions on any topic you would like.  If I spent five hours every day trying to source the same information they do, I would fail.

2. ESPN.com. You need to have the insider package as well.  Being a huge NBA fan it is nice to have an overload of information.  The site does a great job of incorporating video and podcasts into their layout.  I watch much less Sportscenter than I used to because this is a much quicker way to get the information I want.

3. Slickdeals.net. I started shopping online for everything I could back in the late 90′s and haven’t looked back.  Just this month I figured out a way to cut my verizon cell phone bill to $30 and get more minutes.

Happy Hour

Full disclosure has seeped into my regular vocabulary and I was at first concerned by this.  However, it seems to alleviate awkward situations and conversations.  You have had your warning and that is why I am promoting a site my friends and I created with the goal of connecting people and expanding our Rotary Club.

Be sure to check out www.walnutcreekhappyhour.com when you get a chance.  It’s the brainchild of a couple of my fellow Rotarians and we post where we will be on Fridays.  We organize specials hours or lower drink/food prices and it gives a great way to meet new like-minded people.  It started with less than 10 people and we now get at least 30 people at every happy hours.  Who said that happy hour should only be for an hour?

Best music of 2010…so far

Most people compile a list of their favorite songs at year end, so I thought why not do one for a year that is not even a month old.

Top three songs:

 1. One Republic- “Good Life”

They had a huge hit with “Apologize” a couple years ago, but few people realize the amount of songs the lead singer has helped create. In fact that sing had the most radio play in the history of top 40 radio in one week! The irony is the song Ryan Tedder helped write and produce “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis overtook his band’s single. In addition to his work with Lewis he also wrote “Halo” by Beyonce and “Already Gone” by Kelly Clarkson. With this in mind I have to say the above song will stick with you so don’t click on the link unless you want a sock that goes on repeat for at least a week.

2. The Big Pink-“ Dominos”

Wikipedia says they are an electro-rock duo from England. I’ll take their word for it as this song is insanely addictive. The lyrics aren’t the deepest with the chorus repeating “These girls fall like dominos.” Here’s hoping they don’t have an Oasis like meltdown and keep producing gems like this.

3. Young Money (featuring ‘Lil Wayne, Guda Lloyd)- “Bedrock”

Truly a guilty pleasure, any song that makes reference to “Talladega Nights” will get a vote. The other not surprising part of the song is an appearance by ‘Lil Wayne”. He has to be the most prolific rapper alive. Not since ‘Ja Rule have we seen this kind of output! Whatever happened to that guy anyways?

Has it been that long since I posted?

I know I have been slacking in a major way when it comes to updating the blog and part of the reason has been my increasing reliance on Facebook.   It’s akin to that country song that talks about being so much cooler online.  What I’ve been trying to do is make sure to have as much fun as I can during our beatiful California summer.  Octoberfest was in Walnut Creek this past weekend and it was a great time.

I enjoy meeting people in a more relaxed setting and Octoberfest fits that bill.  To make sure to add some value to this post I need to direct you to a few sites that I check on a regular basis.

For music be sure to hit up the music blog Berg Loves Pizza.  Nothing is more satisfying than to be on the cutting edge and hear a song before it’s played 40,000 times to you!

Next, be sure that you read Real Clear Markets every morning.  It’s like the Wall Street Journal on Steroids and condensed version at that.  Perfect for my attention span.

That’s it and that’s all!

Did I really graduate THAT long ago?

Five years may not seem that long, but it equates to almost 1/5 of my time I’ve spent on earth.  My reminder of the anniversery came in the form of a class reunion at Saint Mary’s College.  The college prepares you well over a year in advance so that you have enough time to round up classmates to drag along to the festivities.  There is a certain amount of trepidation as my fear is being the kid that shows up still wearing his letterman’s jacket,  Josten’s class ring, and talking about just how awesome I was back then.

Fortunately I don’t own those two items and my athletic accomplishments are all contained in a intramural champions t-shirt I still flaunt on a regular basis.  Still, I was excited to see who would show up and the events that would unfold.

Getting off to a great start I picked up my friend and former housemate Natalie from the airport and quickly made a college run to Safeway to stock up for the weekend.  Being back on campus in the same dorm I lived in my Junior year of college was a trip.  It felt as if I had just erased five years of my life and was right back at it.  The rest of the roommates showed up the next day and we did all the things we did back in college.  Late nights tend to lead to very early mornings. 

Perhaps my favorite conversations and happenings were with the 50 years of alumni in which we shared housing with.  The class of 1989 was smart enough to have their wives stay at a local hotel so they could revel in the cramped housing and shared community living experience.  The takeaway after the weekend was that you are never too old to be a kid.  Just pick the right spots for it!

Why I Joined Facebook!

Admittedly I felt very defensive as I was filling out my profile for Facebook.  With over 150 million users I felt that it was now time to take the plunge.  I cautiously uploaded several photos so people could get a window into my world.  Little did I know how entreched the site has become in our culture.

I’m happy I signed up, for several reasons:

1. Family- Never has it been easier to keep tabs on what is going on with my brother’s high school life.  Sometimes at night we even get to chat which is a great bonus and something that didn’t exist before.

2. Travels- I can’t tell you how many people I wanted to stay in touch with in my travels but failed to do so.  Now, it has become so easy.  Coming back from France I had invitations waiting for me from people I met.

3. Simplifying information- This may send like an oxymoron, but Facebook condeses our social lives into a single source.  I think our hardest job right now is filtering the information that is presented to us.

These three points have justified my Facebook existence.  I still feel guilty for signing up, but it’s slowly fading away.  Feel free to add me on Facebook if you haven’t already.  I’m feeling a tad insecure about the “low friend count” I currently have.

Is life better when you are a part of a posse?

Joel Stein writes great opinion pieces for “Time Magazine.”  The best part is he makes them short enough that you can read them in less than five minutes.  One of my favorite articles is a piece he wrote about Flo Rida.  Flo Rida is a rapper from Florida who has had a couple hits lately.

With all this talk of Americans hesitant to spend their money it’s nice to read about someone who has the philosophy that you have to spend like you will be making more:

“On the ride over, as he showed me his $40,000 diamond-encrusted watch, I asked Flo, whose success is pretty recent and fragile, if spending all this money was such a good idea. He told me that rapper Rick Ross told him that you have to spend money with the confidence of someone who knows he’s going to make a lot more. I informed him that Rick Ross is not a certified financial adviser. “He’s certified. He makes a lot of money,” he told me. I could not argue with that logic. Not if I wanted to stay in the posse.”

Please don’t stop at just reading this, click here for the rest of the story.

Are we turning Japanese?

The question is based on more than just the one hit wonders “The Vapors.” What a great name for a band with one hit, right?

My question refers to the 1990′s where Japan lost 75% of the value of it’s stock exchange.  Real estate prices fell for fifteen consecutive years!  The banks had to write off 19% of Japan’s GDP from 1992-2005.  I hope you find these sobering stats.

We are in what has been called in the media countless times….uncharted waters.  This latest stimulus package is to me essentially a pinata that our elected officials broke open and then made a mad scramble to get as many benefits for their state as possible.

When 70% of our countries GDP is based on consumer spending and as we all know, everyone seems to be cutting back on their spending, it leads to a tought spot to be in.  One in five houses are underwater and according to a Business Week article I read this week forclosures could shoot upto almost 7 million houses in the next four years.

As tough as it is to swallow right now this will be good for our nation in the future.  I just hope we don’t have to lose a decade to prove it!

Skip Lacour’s workout wisdom

About four years ago I ran into a former bodybuilding champion.  On the surface level it didn’t make much sense how I recognized him in the first place.  I was in my weekly Toastmaster meeting and we had a few guests that week.  One of which looked strangely familiar.  The familiar where it’s somebody from your past but beyond that you can’t place it.

Then I remembered a roommate from college who was a weightlifting fan and as motivation he would hang certain bodybuilders near his desk.  One of them was Skip LaCour.  You can check out Skip’s website at www.manformation.com.  It’s got a lot of great info and he does a weekly radio show as well.

Skip and I became friends and I started to ask questions about becoming more fit and what are the activities that have the biggest payoffs.  He smiled like he had been asked a few thousand times the same questions.   The analogy that he gave which I still use is that the body is essentially an engine and 70% of how you look and feel are a direct result of the fuel you feed it.  It’s human nature to get swept into quick fixes so I thought to ask what is the best way to approach working out.

Then I heard Martha Beck speak.  Anybody that Oprah endorses has to be an expert right?  Wait…don’t answer that.  Regardless, she has a doctorate and has spent her lifetime researching why we do the things we do.  Around new years everybody is going to get into better shape and go to the gym more.

So they start and try to spend two hours each time.  Problem is, change occurs very slowly for us.  The better road to take for working out is merely to get into the habit of traveling there first.  Maybe the first time you drive to the gym that is all you do!  Next time spend five minutes.  Slowly you will rewire and spend more and more time there.

It’s fighting through the initial resistance that is so tough.  Slowly build up your stamina from there.  In my prior post I had talked about writing more thank you notes.  Guess how many I am starting with next week?  You go it, just one.